25 remain in hospitals after Moscow region train crash on Tuesday

MOSCOW, May 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Updated reports said 45 people sought medical assistance after a train collision in the Moscow region on Tuesday; of those 25 are in hospitals, medics told ITAR-TASS.

"The collision between a freight train and a passenger train in the Narofominsk district of the Moscow region claimed six lives, the source said, adding that there were three children among the injured.

May 20, nearly at 13:00 Moscow time (09:00 GMT) 15 cars of a freight train No.1484 derailed on the section between Bekasovo-1 and Nara of the Kiev railroad direction. This resulted in a side collision with Moscow – Chisinau passenger train of the Moldovan Railways. All in all, there were 394 people in the train. Six of them died and 25 were taken to hospital.

Upon the accident, a criminal case has been filed under Part 3 Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of transport safety rules and exploitation of railway transport, which led to death of two or more people by inadvertence”). As earlier reported by spokesperson for the Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin, the investigation considers three versions of the accident’s cause: railway damage, train breakage or fault of locomotive drivers.